


The Literal Once in A Lifetime

by beaches_at_treasure_island



Series: Love Will Outlast Us [1]
Category: Santa Clause (Movies)
Genre: I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Santa clause 3 doesn't exist, didn't happen, idk - Freeform, ignore it, ignores the third movie, plus possible themes of underage at 16, post The Santa Clause 2, probably will become a multichaptered pos, the underage is minor themes and a chaste kiss on the side of the lips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2705903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaches_at_treasure_island/pseuds/beaches_at_treasure_island
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie hasn't seen Bernard, really seen him, since the week after he turned thirteen. But will he return to the Bernard he once knew or is it already too late? Is Bernard too far gone in his heartbreak to realize that Charlie has come back to him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Solarcat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solarcat/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Your Lamps Will Call Me Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/609111) by [Solarcat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solarcat/pseuds/Solarcat). 



Everything had seemed to go so fast on Christmas Eve, from convincing Principal Newman that Charlie’s dad was really Santa, to having the Tooth Fairy fly them to the North Pole sans one of Charlie’s teeth, to re-taking over the Pole and Charlie’s dad marrying Principal Newman. Santa had dropped Charlie off at the beginning of his Christmas delivery trip, greeting Lucy, and leaving with a promise to pick his son up at the end of the night.

It had been years since Neal and Laura had allowed Charlie to visit the North Pole. The last time the now-sixteen year old boy had seen the glory of his father’s workshop was the week after his thirteenth birthday. Luckily, his birthday was in the summer (Lucy was born two days after his ninth birthday, and his parents had let him stay the entire summer in the North Pole) so he didn’t miss any school, according to his mother. But after his thirteenth birthday, his mom kept making excuses for why he couldn’t visit.

“Charlie, you’re getting a little old for this,” was a common phrase, as well as, “You aren’t a child anymore. You should be focusing on school.” Father-son interactions were limited to when Scott had a chance to visit, which was any time after New Years’ until Easter. Besides that, Charlie was left alone with Neal, Lucy and Laura.

But what Charlie missed most about the North Pole, besides his father, was Bernard and Judy. Judy always made the best cocoa and cookies that tasted perfect and different every time. Her girlfriend in wrapping was witty and kind, becoming a sort of confidant for Charlie when he visited the Pole. And Bernard…

Perhaps Charlie’s mother knew. Perhaps not.

Since his visit between Christmas and New Years’ when he was twelve, the second to last visit he made to the North Pole, Charlie had known. It had hit suddenly, a terrifying and wonderful realization when he had seen the elf from the corner of his eye in the workshop.

It was Bernard.

It would always be Bernard.

Charlie had never previously taken the chance to evaluate his sexuality. He had been twelve and not really interested in anyone at all, despite all his classmates’ rampant love letters and dating. But during his winter visit, one glance at Bernard had made him realize the depth and whereabouts of his own affections.

That winter, Charlie had hidden himself away from all but his father and Judy’s girlfriend, Lillian. It was only a week, anyway. Bernard probably didn’t even notice, he had tried to tell himself.

But that last visit, that summer after he turned thirteen, Bernard had greeted him with a, “How’re you doing, sport? I missed you last winter,” and Charlie had felt so guilty and so relieved. Maybe Bernard did feel something.

However, Bernard hadn’t mentioned much past missing the newly-teenaged boy, though the two had spent some time together over the week. Charlie had convinced himself that maybe he was wrong. Maybe Bernard didn’t notice him because of their difference in ages. Bernard was millennia older than Charlie.

On the last day of Charlie’s visit, Bernard took Charlie out around the town one last time, the two laughing and rubbing snowballs into each other’s hair and clothing. Right before Bernard took Charlie to Santa so that Scott could deliver Charlie home, Bernard’s face took on a serious mask as he asked Charlie to sit down.

“Now, I need to tell you something,” Bernard said. “About elves, that is. I know you’ve been taking some of the classes with the younger elves. Could you tell me what you already know?”

“Well,” Charlie started, biting thoughtfully on his lip, “I know that elves usually don’t grow taller than four feet, which is why you, me and Dad are the only tall people here. And I know you guys don’t get your pointy ears until your hundredth birthday. And you guys can live a long time, and the longest lived elf was twenty-two thousand and eight years old. But he didn’t die of old age, so nobody knows how long an elf can actually live.” Charlie hummed. “There’s one other thing that Lillian told me, that I didn’t learn in class, though. She said that an elf mates for a lifetime. That sometimes, an elf will wait for hundreds or thousands of years to find the right person to want to spend their life with. And that if the person they choose doesn’t love them back, they have to live alone forever and sometimes die from a broken heart. It’s horrible,” Charlie said in disgust, shaking his head emphatically. “Are any of those what you were looking for?”

“Yeah. That last one,” Bernard answered weakly. “See, I’ve found my mate…”

“Who is it?” Charlie asked with false cheer. It was most likely another elf. “What’s their name?”

“Well, about that…”

“Does your mate not…? I mean… Are you okay?” Charlie faltered, unsure.

“They don’t know. I haven’t told them yet. I’ve been trying, but I can’t seem to make the words come out,” Bernard told him.

“Well, practice on me,” Charlie offered, feeling his own heart break at the words coming out of his mouth.

“Look, I should just come right out and say it, right?” Charlie nodded at the head elf. Taking a deep breath, Bernard steeled himself. “Charlie, you are my mate.”

It took Charlie a moment to register the words, and then he launched himself at Bernard, arms wrapping around the elf’s torso and catapulting them off the bench they had perched on. “Really?” Charlie asked the elf, eyes shining up at him.

“Yeah. Are you… are you okay with that?”

“Of course. I’ve been… Well, I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you I’ve liked you since last Christmas, when I saw you after Dad brought me back on the return trip. That’s why I hid away. I... I realized it was more than a crush.” Blushing, Charlie distracted himself by hugging Bernard again and burying his head in the junction of the elf’s neck and shoulder.

Bernard’s smile shone through his next words. “Well, maybe next time you won’t avoid me, huh? I was planning on telling you then, but you made me wait seven months.”

“Sorry, B’nard,” Charlie muttered, not letting his grip loosen. “I’m going to miss you. I don’t wanna go back to my mom. This is my home.”

“I know, sport. But you have to go home. As Santa’s kid, if you spend too long here, you’ll turn into one of the elves, for real. Curtis, the keeper of the handbook, explained it to me very thoroughly.”

“You sound like that’s a bad thing,” Charlie grumbled.

“To your mom, it would be. She probably wants to see you grow up and go to high school and graduate, and probably go to college as well.”

“But I don’t wanna grow up. Then I’ll be older than you… At least, physically, that is.”

“Well, you should at least graduate high school. Okay? For me?”

At that, Charlie nodded and pulled back to look at Bernard. “Fine. I’ll go to high school, but only because you asked me to, okay? But don’t make me go to college.”

Bernard chuckled and agreed, then checked his watch. “Oh! Your dad’s going to come looking for you soon, Charlie. It’s about time for you to leave,” said the head elf mournfully.

“Hey,” Charlie said, “don’t be sad. It’s only so long for now, not goodbye.” And Bernard just looked so sad that Charlie pressed a kiss to Bernard’s cheek, at the corner of his lips. “I’ll visit you every break I have, even if you’re too busy to notice me.”

But he didn’t. It wasn’t “appropriate for a young boy to spend so much time away from civilization” according to Neal and Charlie’s mom. The longer he went without seeing Bernard, the more disheartened and depressed Charlie got, to the point where Neal kept calling Scott down from the Pole to visit, thinking missing his father was the cause. But nothing worked. And then Charlie was distracted by vandalizing school property, then with his father coming down from the North Pole with less than a month until Christmas. And then, he was helping take over the North Pole from his father’s evil plastic clone with his ex-Principal Newman who then married his father and became Mrs. Claus.

Which led to now.

Scott Calvin, aka Santa Claus, arrived in the wee hours of Christmas morning as the sun rose over the wintery street where Charlie lived.

Charlie hadn’t been able to fall asleep, keyed up on adrenaline and the desire to see Bernard. He couldn’t help feeling bad that he’d been unable to see or even pass a message onto Bernard in the past three and a half years and hoped his mate was okay. Charlie had seen Bernard briefly during the takeover and the wedding but was not given a chance to talk to the elf.

In anxious silence, Charlie boarded his father’s sleigh and his exhausted dad let the reindeer take the lead home, Chet now too exhausted to do anything other than fly like all the other reindeer. The entire ride back to the Pole, father and son alike sat in comfortable silence, each left to their own thoughts, both about their significant other.


	2. Chapter 2

It was late, or perhaps early, when Charlie and his dad landed the sleigh in the atrium. The sun had just begun to shine over the horizon as Charlie slid out of the sleigh, his exhausted father following suit. Charlie was tired, too, but he knew that his anticipation to see Bernard would not allow him any rest. The elves began to tidy up the annual mess that came with the enervated reindeer and cookie crumb laden seats.

Principal Newman – er, uh, Mrs. Claus? – came forward and helped lead Scott off to bed, saying a quick but caring “Good night” in her new step-son’s direction. Charlie watched them go for a moment before turning to a nearby elf that didn’t look too busy.

“Hey, do you know where I could find Bernard?” He asked the girl.

“In his office,” the elf said curtly. She sounded sort of irritated, but Charlie brushed it off as weariness from the Christmas delivery rush.

“Thank you,” he replied politely, then headed for Bernard’s office. Charlie had spent a lot of his time there when he used to visit – it was the most comfortable place to just be, in his opinion – but now his nerves started up. What if Bernard hated him? He had tried to contact him but every letter was returned by the post office with a stamp saying ‘No such address.’

The carved wooden double doors loomed ahead and Charlie took one last deep, calming breath just before knocking.

“Come in,” the familiar voice called, reverberating through the solid doors. Charlie stifled a gasp at the feeling it evoked in him. Slowly, he turned the knob and pushed the door in. There was Bernard, looking down at his desk. He seemed to be focusing on some document or other, probably some important post-Christmas thing that needed to be done. Without looking up, Bernard asked, “Is there something you need, or can it wait until after I’ve had eight hours of sleep?”

“Bernard,” Charlie whispered. Oh, how he’d missed the head elf. He’d nearly forgotten his voice, his face, the way his scent permeated the office. Charlie locked his knees and blinked a few times, afraid he would collapse on the floor in tears.

Bernard dropped his fountain pen and stared up at Charlie in shock. “Charlie? I – I thought Santa took you home?”

“I asked him to bring me back, after. I couldn’t – I couldn’t be away from you any longer.” Charlie saw Bernard’s closed-off expression and continued. “I didn’t want to be away for this long – I never wanted to leave you – but my mother, and Neal, they wouldn’t let me visit. Something about how children shouldn’t be isolated from society or something equally inane.” The teen sighed. “I tried to come back to you, really, but they wouldn’t let me, and Dad didn’t want to upset Mom. She’s been taking the whole ‘Charlie’s growing up’ thing a little hard. But we convinced Mom to let me stay until Principal Newman, uh, Claus? Whatever she’s going as, I’m allowed to stay until she has to return to school, also.” Bernard was silent, just staring at Charlie with that piercing gaze. “Say something… Please?”

“Charlie... It’s been more than three yea—”

“I know,” Charlie interrupted, “And if you don’t want me, then say so. But I still love you. I have never stopped loving you.”

Bernard got up from his chair, walked around the desk and stood in front of Charlie, looking up a few centimeters into his glistening eyes. “You’ve grown,” the elf said, stating the obvious. “Last time I saw you, you were two heads shorter than me.”

“Like you said, it’s been more than three years.” The tears in Charlie’s eyes ran down his cheeks in rivulets as he stared back at the other boy.

Bernard lifted a long-fingered hand and gently wiped the tear tracks away. Using the same hand, the elf cupped Charlie’s face and leaned up, pressing a kiss into the teen’s lips.

“I will always, always love you, Charlie,” Bernard told him. “You’re my mate, my one and only. I could no longer live without you than without air.” Bernard hugged the taller boy tightly. “You realize, I’m liable to never let you out of my sight again, right?”

Charlie’s replying chuckle was watery as he embraced Bernard. “I feel the same way.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Christmas Commissions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2714960) by [atsuyuri_sama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/atsuyuri_sama/pseuds/atsuyuri_sama)




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